In addition to the seven days already mentioned, the woman was to wait an additional thirty-three days to be certain that the discharge was completely over. The total of forty days constituted a sacred number for the Israelites at that time. During these forty days the woman was considered “taboo.” Two things were specifically forbidden to her in this passage: to touch anything holy, and to enter the holy environment of the Tent of the LORD’s Presence. These prohibitions show the ritual character of her impurity. A good model for the first part of this verse is New English Bible, which has “The woman shall wait for thirty-three [more] days because her blood requires purification….” Moffatt has “and for thirty-three days further she shall stay at home, while the blood flows, till she is purified.”

Come into the sanctuary: since women were probably not allowed to enter the sanctuary, some have rendered this expression “go to the sanctuary” (New Jerusalem Bible and Bible en français courant). This apparently assumes that the women went only to the entrance of the Tent. Verse 6 seems to confirm this assumption when it says “at the door of the tent.”

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .